Pina
D i r e c t e d b y W i m We n d e r s Starring Pina Bausch Released April 22
here are some things in life that leave you speechless. This is how the late dancer Pina Bausch described the human impulse to dance. As her dedicated troupe makes serpentine movements across the stage, Bausch’s presence in Wim Wenders’ film is like that of a silent snake charmer. Her followers hypnotically fling themselves through movements; transforming bodies into endless expressions. Having known Bausch for 20 years, Wenders waited almost as long to make a film that would dutifully pay homage to the founder of Germany's Tanztheater Wuppertal. With the second coming of 3D, Wenders finally found his format, lending Pina the depth it was crying out for. Although this isn’t the first film to combine dance and 3D (step forward StreetDance 3D), it’s the first that isn’t tailored exclusively for popcorn poppers and teenie boppers. With the potential to turn highbrow critics’ and arthouse aficionados’ frowns upside down, Wenders’ delicately provocative film could give 3D
the My Fair Lady moment it’s been yearning for. The expressive dance of the Tanztheater is, in actual fact, anything but prim and proper. Energised by Bausch’s mantra – ‘dance, dance, otherwise we are lost’ – the dancers pulsate in tribal movements across both the stage and various industrial locations around Wuppertal. It is in these instances that Wenders makes the most of the 3D; superimposing indoors onto outdoors with a sort of tracing paper editing. Watching a dancer from his partner’s point-ofview is a spectacular experience in itself – one that not even live performance can offer. In other words, Pina is a film that doesn’t simply profit from 3D, but one that needs to be seen in 3D. Elements of the surreal may make Pina memorable – a woman dancing with a hippopotamus will provide some much-needed relief – but while some of the performances in the film take their inspiration from the circus, unlike other 3D
adventures, this one doesn’t simply clown about with technology. With Pina, Wenders invites you to take a closer look at the beauty of the flower, without squirting water in your face. Zara Miller
Anticipation.
3D lovers and snobs alike are sure to raise an eyebrow on hearing about Pina.
Enjoyment. We n d e r s
proves that, when handled with care, the technology can reach a whole new dimension.
In Retrospect. H o p e f u l l y Pina will be the first of many to build a bridge between 3D and arthouse cinema.
The Eagle
Directed by Kevin Macdonald S t a r r i n g C h a n n i n g Ta t u m , Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland Released March 25
hanning Tatum, dripping chain mail with a tousled Toni & Guy haircut and a chin you could use to barge down a portcullis, surveys the descending pack of Scottish savages and commands his Roman legionnaires. “Prepare to defend The Eagle!” Good luck with that, Channing, because this film is wide open for a pasting. It’s AD 140. The Roman Empire stretches as far as Hadrian’s Wall. Marcus Aquila (Tatum), a young Roman centurion stationed in England, is tarnished by the disgraced legacy of his father, who led the only legion beyond Hadrian’s Wall 20 years previously and vanished without trace, losing the legion’s eponymous sacred eagle standard. Determined to rediscover the eagle and restore his father’s lost honour, Aquila travels with a British slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), beyond the
062 T h e A t t a c k t h e B l o c k I s s u e
Wall and into the Scottish wilderness to confront the barbarous tribes that lurk there. Kevin Macdonald, Scottish born and BBC bred, is an established name. Touching theVoid began a wave of commercial feature-length docu-dramas. State of Play, based on a BBC mini-series, was a smart, testing ensemble thriller, while 2006’s The Last King of Scotland helped to usher in the kinetic-mosaic style – that gritty, hurried form of editing on digital cameras – that became de rigueur for so many ‘based on a true story’ movies of the era. But here Macdonald has fallen down, and hard. His visceral style is very much in evidence, yet now it seems distracting. When the film is allowed to breathe, the hazy vista of the Scottish Highlands leads one to reflect on the feral beauty of our isles. But dramatically, it’s schematic and unconvincing, weighted by a visibly middling budget and some truly deadwood acting from
Tatum and Bell. Only Tahar Rahim, Jacques Audiard’s muse in A Prophet, injects intrigue and danger as a pagan-worshipping Celt. This is a sword and sandals epic downsized for the age of austerity; an over-extension of ambition scorned by the absence of tools. The Eagle uncomfortably straddles a line somewhere between Gladiator and Countryfile. Tom Seymour
Anticpation.
Macdonald brings his brio to the epic...
Enjoyment.
B u t i t ’s n o t e n o u g h t o l i f t t h i s d e a d w e i g h t s t o r y.
In Retrospect. A b o r i n g R o m a n To p G u n .